This is a beauty of a philosophical, meaningful and thought provoking conversation between Bryn & Steve. A natural, curious and reflective conversation - one you most probably would enjoy being part of. We’d love to carry on the dialog, so get in touch via the Facebook page if you’ve got something to add or question.

It’s a continual in-flow chat hitting on:

1️⃣ Kids Growth - Helping your kids grow and take accountability at a young age

2️⃣ Morning Rituals - Morning routines being the key to consistent high achievement

1️⃣ We get things started by Steve talking about his kids summer break from school, and how with some planning and careful motivation, they’ve managed to enjoy growing and developing over the last six weeks.

2️⃣ That leads us into talking about the importance of morning routines for kids and adults, and the impact a consistent morning ritual has had on Steve’s daily energy and performance.

3️⃣ We then get into discussing the concept of 1st, 2nd and 3rd Order Consequences, which is really about understand the cause and effect of your actions, be it positive or negative. This is about immediate gratification and the value of attaching current decisions to a longer term more meaningful goal. We chat about the gym, cold showers, binging, reading, foam rolling, eating to thrive and article writing.

4️⃣ Steve shares the impact that has been felt in his life by orienting around 3rd Order consequences, and how he has converted un-enjoyable activities into things he loves due to this reframing.

5️⃣ Then we chat about the #BeYourBest mission at AdapNation, and the varying levels of considering and acting against this objective. First Order - Compete with others. Second Order - Compete with yourself from yesterday. Third Order - Care for our future self like you do your kids, partner and pets!. Paying it forward.

6️⃣ We then close on Higher Purpose, and understanding the bigger machine at play - Nature. What’s Nature’s higher purpose? It’s to evolve, to advance evolution by helping species develop, grow, adapt & prosper. How does that relate to humans? Can you, one out of 7.6 billion people who exists for a tiny fraction of earth’s life have a worthwhile impact? We conclude that you, everyone, can have a meaningful and significant impact. It’s all of our duty to do so, to pay it forward in our own way. Time to abandon selfishness and self-pity and think about how we can contribute to the advancement of humanity.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star reviewand letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.

AdapNation Useful Links:

- AdapNation Website - where you will find articles, videos and journals on all things wellness, training and mindset

Whilst we’re not a CrossFit Podcast, and we have a natural bias towards more traditional strength and weight training, we massively appreciate CrossFit for the positive impact it’s had on people's relationship with health and fitness over the last decade. Moreover, Bryn got started with a CrossFit box a few months ago and has a really interesting perspective as a PT and someone who has always favoured strength training.

This episode will help those who are considering CrossFit and/or those who have specific body goals understand all the value, benefits and downsides of CrossFit, from a relative Newbie who is not dogmatic and cult-like about the sport.

Bryn walks Steve through his experience, motivations and realised benefits to date. We cover:

1️⃣ What does a typical CrossFit session look like?

2️⃣ Why did Bryn Start going?

3️⃣ Is he still interested in going?

4️⃣ Is it in support of his physique and strength goals?

5️⃣ What have been the benefits and carryover?

6️⃣ Does Bryn do CrossFit exclusively?

7️⃣ What about risk of injury?

8️⃣ What is the average age demographic?

9️⃣ Is Lisa (Bryn’s Wife) enjoying and getting value from CrossFit?

🔟 Summary Pros, Cons and Barriers to Entry

If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star reviewand letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.

AdapNation Useful Links:

AdapNation Website - where you will find articles, videos and journals on all things wellness, training and mindset

Steve’s 37 and Bryn is 29. Neither are spring chickens, but we still feel like youth is on our side. In part this comes from the actions we take towards health, nutrition and strength, and in part our assumptions of what getting older should ‘feel’ and ‘look’ like.

And given Bryn’s PT practice works with a reasonable volume of ‘older’, say 40-80 years old, we thought it would make for a good episode to discuss the observational and recommendation differences between a young person and someone more mature.

For younger folk, this episode is looking into a crystal ball into the future, and should give you food for thought. And for those in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and older, you should be able to take some comfort, inspiration and practical recommendations from this discussion.

For the first 5 mins, Steve has a quick rant about the amount of accumulated crap in his house they are having to sift through as part of a multi-room decoration effort.

Here’s what we cover:

1️⃣ - Actual Age vs Fitness Age - it’s time to reset your view of what ‘old’ feels like

2️⃣ - There’s a decline in body health and mobility - 40 year olds are coming in riddled with issues

3️⃣ - Body goals morphing from purely aesthetics to including longevity and function as people get older

4️⃣ - Considerations for working on BIG aesthetic goals for the older population

5️⃣ - Muscle building hormonal differences between young and older people

To be clear, this is not an attempt to label a certain age bracket as old. Instead, this guidance is intended to help understand what changes occur as the human body ages in todays day and age, so that you can set the right expectations and train smart.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you like this and other AdapNation episodes,please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well asleaving a 5 star reviewand letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.

AdapNation Useful Links:

■ AdapNationWebsite - where you will find articles, videos and journals on all things wellness, training and mindset

Step one - lets get the diet in check. Reduce the foods that cause your body stress and amplify all the tasty nutritious food that can have you thrive. Food is powerful stuff, and when done right you can rid yourself of symptoms and diseases, as well as making you feel on fire - ready to own every day.

That said, there is a place for Supplementation, to fill in the nutritional gaps in your diet, and act as an insurance policy that helps have all your bases covered. Moreover, there are some supplements that provide benefits not easily extracted from common western diets, and as such stand out for their ability to further boost your wellness and vitality.

This episode carries on the conversation from AdapNation Episode 35 (The Anti-Inflammatory Diet Progress Update), as Steve walks Bryn through the Supplement ‘stack’ he takes for optimal wellness, as well as some interesting insights into the global health decline and Steve’s real why behind caring so much about nutrition.

The Supplements discussed are broken down into these categories:

1️⃣ -Supporting Muscle Growth & Performance

2️⃣ - Assisting Rest & Recovery from Training

3️⃣ - Supporting General Wellness

4️⃣ -Boosting Optimal Wellness (the ‘weird’ stuff)

5️⃣ - Supplement-like Superfoods

This is by no means is a prescription of what you should take, not is it an exhaustive list. Instead, you’ll get to understand what Steve takes and why. This may help you better understand the supplementation strategy that’s right for you.

In this short episode, Steve updates Bryn on the three week Anti-Inflammatory Diet that Steve, Michelle and the kids are on, in an attempt to reduce systemic inflammation and aid the regression of auto immune conditions and other commonly experienced symptoms.

This diet is simply the total avoidance of Gluten, Refined Sugars & Artificial Sweeteners and Dairy. The idea is that these foods are universally the biggest culprits behind many of the modern conditions, obesity and diseases we suffer with today, as they cause internal inflammation that creates a whole cascade of issues your body has to deal with.

It’s an incredibly hard diet to consider and prepare for (physically and mentally), and getting going is pretty brutal. However, in reality it’s not as bad as it sounds after a few days, and has some tremendous upside for you today, and most importantly your future self.

Steve chats about:

1️⃣ - The challenges of the diet. This will surprise you

2️⃣ - The rewards so far for the whole family

3️⃣ - The mind blowing movements of discovery and experience

4️⃣ - How Steve & Michelle have gamified the experience to make it exciting and enjoyable for their young kids

5️⃣ - The Bigger Why behind this diet for Steve’s kids

If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star review and letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.

A foundational concept of getting stronger and developing muscle is Progressive Overload.

If this is not respected, that result in the gym will be at best random, and at worst non-existent.

Steve and Bryn have learnt the hard way. Many ways of ‘wasted’ effort and pain in the gym, all for little to no progressive towards the physique goals we had.

So, in the spirit of increasing our Gym IQ, this podcast chat goes into what is Progressive Overload, how to think about it in everyday life, and then on to tall the ways you can think about progressively overloading in the gym.

Before we get into that discussion, for ~20mins, Bryn shares his big-group holiday in Spain - the good, the beautiful, and the stressful. Pretty shocking, and some lessons to take from his experience…

Here’s what we cover on Progressive Overload, with many examples and personal anecdote to help drive the points home:

1️⃣ - What is Progressive Overload?

2️⃣ - How it relates to every day life

3️⃣ - How to make sure you are Progressively Overloading

4️⃣ - The Progressive Overload Formula

5️⃣ - The 6 ways to Progressively Overload from week-to-week

If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star review and letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.

There are a few companies exploding at the moment offering entire nutrition in four shakes a day. In what has been a spirited debate on this subject on the AdapNation Facebook Community, it made sense to bring this conversation to the Podcast and get you thinking about both the good and not-so-good aspects of these Food Replacement Shakes.

In this 30-40min chat about the growth and refinement of Food Replacement shakes and companies, we ended up taking a ying and yang position as we both conceded a little but still held on to our very different starting beliefs on man-made shakes replacing real food.

Are they good or bad for individual health and for society at large?

Steve’s Starting Positions:

1️⃣ Total Food Replacement Marketing2️⃣ Fuelling the decline in Kitchen IQ3️⃣ Will we become a society or straw-suckers?4️⃣ What about people with poor food relationship already?5️⃣ Can the Microbiome thrive without real food?

Bryn’s Balance Perspective:

1️⃣ A great supplement for those with irregular schedules and road warriors2️⃣ Convenience Food, Time-Poor & Excuses are the causes for Kitchen IQ decline3️⃣ The industry and products have changed massively since Slimfast. Educating and focussing now on the important of ‘complete’ nutrition 4️⃣ Gut instinct on whether relying solely on these shakes is a a good thing

If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star review and letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.

Bryn’s currently reading Tony Robbin’s Unshakeable and Steve’s getting stuck into Nelson Mandela’s autobiography (Happy 100th Birthday Madiba!) - thoughts of inspiration and self reflection bubble to the surface and end up owning this engaging conversation.

We love these chats, as you end up walking away with more positivity and enthusiasm to think or do something that helps you develop and grow. To be a better person. Plus, we get to have a moan - very carthatic! Haha.

What we cover in this discussion:

1️⃣ Tony Robbins - His books, His Life Changing Events, His Brain Tumour, His Power and how he influenced Steve’s life for good

2️⃣ Embracing uncertainty and surprise

3️⃣ Young so-called Life Coaches and Mentors -

We air our frustrations of 21 year olds declaring the answers to all of life’s problems and meaning.

What we admire by these go getters and influencers

How Steve thinks they should adjust their messaging and approach - to appeal to ALL ages with humbleness

4️⃣ Your 30’s is when you REALLY get to know who you are - You drop the ego. You stop trying to be right, and make others wrong. Steve’s reflections.

5️⃣ Life Wisdom vs Currency - How older people offer more life experience and universal truths, yet the relevancy of someone younger is vital to knowing how to live in todays modern world

6️⃣ Steve’s most important piece of advice would offer to his younger self (and his kids right now)…

7️⃣ Steve’s insatiable curiosity and how it can be fatiguing for those around him

8️⃣ How there seem to be more Successful Introverts in leadership roles than Extroverts

If you like this and other AdapNation episodes, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, as well as leaving a 5 star review and letting friends and family know of this Podcast on Social Media.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a Physique Competitor - whether it be pure curiosity or a personal interest? How people get into it, what the training looks like, the food, the posing, and generally how these guys run their life to looking the way they do?

If so, then this raw, honest and incredibly insightful interview with James Anagnostopolous is well worth a listen. James is an amateur Physique competitor.

James is a normal guy holding down a career in the Corporate IT Software industry in New York, who just so happens to have a hidden surprising side to his personality and life. Being a life-long runner and lover of hard gruelling physical activities and competitions, James decided to throw himself into he deep-end and put himself into the foreign world of Physique Competing a couple years ago.

With three NPC Physique competitions under his belt from a standing start, he’s learnt a great deal on what it takes to build your very best body and compete against other highly focussed athletes. Most importantly, he’s been on this journey whilst still being a dad, husband and successful corporate professional. It’s encouraging to hear that physique competing is accessible and open to all, if you’re willing to put in the work.

This is what we discuss through this engaging interview:

1️⃣ - Who is James. Interests, Family, Passions, Work…

2️⃣ - Life previously as a serial Marathon runner and Triathlete

3️⃣ - Why did James decide to get into Physique competing? How did his wife respond?